I want to work out early in the mornings because I don't have time in the afternoons or evenings. But I want to wake up at 6:30 am, do 20 mins of cardio then one hour of weights, and eat breakfast after, then continue my day. Can anyone tell me if it's a good idea, or if its healthy or not. Will I have energy to lift weights?

On occasion, I have done this as a last resort, usually because I had my evenings blocked. Somewhere, I read a scientific study which pointed to evening workouts for the best results. Socially, you get a different crowd at a gym if it is open later hours. This could lead to greater interest and intensity. My gym is a key club and, somewhere around 6pm, the personal trainers and their clients disappear. The music changes to something heavy and pounding while college linebackers file in to take up the benches and power racks. I'm somewhere in that crowd, spotting, yelling and wishing I was 21 again.

It is fine. Normaly stretching is only needed after lifting, but in this case it might be needed before, because you are more stiff in the morning. Then warm up by doing warm up sets. Do the cardio after lifting.

Re: Lifting early in the morning. When I started lifting eight years ago, I began on the floor of our bedroom. Soon I had too much stuff (i.e., dumbbells, a bar, a bench I mail ordered from J.C. Penneys) so I moved to a spare bedroom. I lifted every morning for a month or so until I discovered a message board and learned that daily workouts aren't the best way to proceed, especially for older lifters. So I settled into a 3 x week routine which I've continued to the present.
I've read that the merit of morning exercise is that the body is more apt to burn stored fat after using available glyogen than it is after taking in food. Tim Dewey may need to fine tune this metabolism stuff a little but I think I'm approximately right. As far as having enuf energy, I've never had any problem, though I don't lift real heavy in absolute terms, though it seems plenty heavy to my now 67 year old bod. Re: the motivation. I'm sure that thru much of my adult life I would not have had enuf motivation to stick with it, but somehow when I started at age 58 or whatever I was, it clicked. Actually, I eventually joined a gym which afforded me much more equip. however I can only get there once a week so I still do two weekly sessions at home. The home sessions have been an interesting mental activity also. For example, some mornings, when I roll out of the sack at 5:30 I feel like hell. I start with 20 min. or so of stretching, then grab a pair of 15 lb. d.b's for warm-up. I then progresss thru the same lifts I do for warm-up but advance thru 20, 25 and 30 lb. d.b.'s. My point is though, that as soon as I catch a little pump, I begin to feel good. Also, I've discovered that a time or two over the years when I was living thru a particularly stressful situation, the early morning, solitary encounter with the heavy stuff became a reassuring, confidence re-building thing. Maybe sort of a Zen thing. It's very different than the hard core gym I go to where the sat. radio is blaring heavy metal (no pun intended). Well, didn't start out to write a book, but hope the comments are in some way useful. Don[/quote]

Cardio before weights (unless its a short, light to moderate warmup) isn't a real good idea. It will sap your energy from the weights. My advice would be to do a 5 min light cardio warmup, then weights, then cool down with a cardio session, or better yet, do the cardio on a separate day.
As to mornings, well, If you can get into it, why not? As to the doing it on a fast, well , Don got the theory right, but what they're finding out in studies subsequent to the theory being put out on the street, is that in most cases, it makes little difference. Most recommendtions are to eat light, wait about an hour then go at it, and eat again afterward. It's just something you have to feel out for yourself.
Tim

From a back health or back injury prevention point of view you should not lift or perform torso bending exercises within 2 hours of getting out of bed due to the hydrophilic nature of vertebral discs and the resulting increased stresses on discs and ligaments seen within that 2 hour period.

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